MKP Stands in Solidarity with Standing Rock

Let us not turn away from the profound responsibility we have taken on by committing ourselves to a mission that speaks of the world and the future of humanity.

The ManKind Project USA supports the efforts of Indigenous / Native people around the globe to protect their land, water, and people from destruction. MKP USA calls on New Warriors to stand in solidarity and witness of the efforts of Indigenous water protectors at Standing Rock. We acknowledge the history of colonialism, violence, racial and political oppression enacted against indigenous people, and our collective responsibility to stand as allies in the creation of a more just and sustainable world.

In 2015 the ManKind Project USA entered an alliance with the Indigenous Men’s and Women’s Oyate of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. (https://mkpusa.org/oyate/) The Tatanka Alliance represents a commitment by the ManKind Project USA to offer what we have for the seven generations, including our training protocols and financial support, to assist in the healing work being done by and for native peoples on the Pine Ridge Reservation and beyond at the All Nations Training Center. This statement is a continuation of that commitment.

In a spirit of reciprocity, we acknowledge that we are all connected. We acknowledge that the actions of native people are actions in support of all of us.

There are men and women connected to the ManKind Project at Standing Rock and broadcasting information about the movement. There are actions you can take to help. The first is to listen.

Wisdom teacher Mark Morey is one of the MKP men who has been at Standing Rock. He relayed two stories to MKP USA Chairman Julien Devereux in a phone call on Friday October 28. Mark recalled sitting around a fire one evening at the camp when he was struck by four words from an elder, lofted out of the long silence:

“Fear of the unknown.”

This is a moment of cultural importance, and it points at realities that can be frightening.

The grandmothers on the frontline facing police in riot gear with weapons and billy clubs, speak from their heart to them:

“We are doing this for your children too, you know. We know you want this but your heart is closed, so we are praying for you.”

MKP Stand with Standing Rock is a Facebook Group created for the purpose of providing a platform to listen to indigenous voices, to share resources and information, and to organize actions that support the protection of clean water and indigenous human rights. The ManKind Project is indebted to native people. We support efforts to protect culture and planet, and to be allies in creating an equitable society.

This morning as I looked at the front page of the Dallas Morning News there were two headline stories. The first was a picture through black smoke of a phalanx of armed riot police, looking like Imperial StormTroopers from Star Wars, above the story of the water protectors in Cannon Ball, North Dakota who were being dispersed from private land.

Standing Rock Chairman Archambault reported 140 arrests from thursday alone and over 40 injuries due to the escalation of militarization, including broken bones. Due to the 200 armed riot police from many agencies across 6 states, the water protectors reluctantly yielded their position from 1851 unceded treaty land. The Lakota people have a saying “Mni Wiconi”, which means “Water is Life”. The Chairman said “We don’t see water as a resource, we see it as a relative”. We all have a right to clean air, water, and unspoiled land. Earth is sacred. This is not New Age dogma but a firmly held belief by the indigenous people who have gathered to resist this Dakota Access Pipeline.

The second story on the front page was about the exoneration of the Ammon and Ryan Bundy, white men from Oregon who protested the control of Federal lands. They were allowed to stay for 41 days, heavily armed, without being raided, and were arrested after they surrendered. The media coverage of their protest was highly publicized. They even fired at Federal officers.

Is there a difference in these two cases beyond race and culture? Yes, but the racial and cultural issues are obvious and prominent. Native people in this country have endured 500 years of colonization, a mindset based on taking and exploiting the land’s resources with little regard for the next generations. As you read this, the desecration of sacred grounds, the lack of respect for the Earth and the water supply for the five adjoining states in building the Dakota Access Pipeline continues while Federal agencies reconsider the permits. Now is the time to raise awareness and take action.

Several MKP USA members have called and emailed over the last few days to ask how how we can support the Standing Rock water protectors. Individually, we can raise our own awareness but more importantly raise the awareness in our immediate zone of influence about how this story has gone silent in the major media venues. Write letters to editors, call television stations and ask what is up with the story about the Pipeline.

Social media postings show what is happening in the very remote area where this is occurring. Cross post and forward, listen to native voices, share them.

Additionally, we can contact the owners and builders of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, 3738 Oak Lawn, in Dallas, Texas and owned by Kelcy Warren and let them know your concerns by posting on their Google Reviews page or contacting their Media Relations contact Vicki Granado at 214-599-8785 or by email at Vicki.Granado@energytransfer.com.

I am asking if any brothers in Dallas, Texas are willing to step up and join me in a social action to register our protest in person at their offices or at Klyde Warren Park?

Think globally about water, land, relationship to other peoples and ourselves and do something to act locally.